Spotlight on Nokarid

Nokarid had a rocky start, but they also foreshadow later works.

Background

When I was first starting to write Star Trek fan fiction, I wanted to get across the idea of a far more alien life form than was normally a part of canon.

Are there Nokarid in your dinner?

I also hit upon, for More, More, More! what I thought was perhaps the perfect humorous opening line, “It all began with a bad meatball.”

Because, you see, my idea was the aliens were microscopic, yet sentient. They would be smart enough to have a civilization and a culture, but too small to be visible with the naked eye.

Tiny Sentience

In retrospect, the Nokarid are precursors to the colony alien (or Var-gi-yeh, if you are in the Mirror Universe) species of which Branch Borodin is the sole member. They are a colony, to be sure, but there is really nothing known about them. Richard Daniels refers to them as being somewhat endangered although that might be more a function of their overall size.

By accident, Jonathan Archer swallows the entire colony. How they get into his meatball is never subject to explanation. But they are pretty hardy little things if they can survive the cooking process. Once inside, they attempt to colonize their new quarters – his brain. As Daniels works to remove the colonists and not kill them (or tell Phlox that they are there, for first contact should happen later), the effects on Archer’s brain become apparent as the man loosens up and starts to become a bit of a comedian.

Upshot

I only used them once, and so they are the epitome of a one-shot “Alien of the Week”. I think I would like to bring them back, although I am unsure as to how.

Like this page? Tweet it!

You can find me on Google+.